The Secret's Out: Top British Spy Identified

Published: May 7, 1992

LONDON, May 6—
Sir Colin McColl was swept in from the cold today. Breaking a longstanding policy shrouding the identity of Britain's chief spy, Prime Minister John Major unexpectedly acknowledged that Sir Colin was the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, known as M.I. 6.

Mr. Major's revelation before the House of Commons was surprising, but it was not news. Sir Colin's title was one of Britain's most open secrets. Until now, however, no one in the Government ever officially acknowledged what Sir Colin did.

Speaking on the first day of the new Parliament session, Mr. Major said he was coming clean with one of Britain's most public secrets to emphasize his commitment to press forward government reforms and "sweep away some of the cobwebs of secrecy which needlessly veil too much of government business."

In Who's Who, a brief entry identifies Sir Colin Hugh Verel McColl as "Counsellor" in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1977. But what was widely known, unofficially, was that he was named to head the Secret Intelligence Service in 1989 by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. A year later, he received his knighthood.